These past couple of weeks have been filled with getting stuff done. I finally took a break from non stop doing and actually pulled out my planners and started planning and documenting. There is something about writing things down and getting some perspective on what actually needs to be tackled, the down side is seeing what actually needs to be tackled! Usually, my ToDo lists overwhelm me, but floating from one day to the next without direction makes me wonder what the he#& happened to my week. So, even though I’m retired, I still like having some kind of structure my day, and checking things off feels pretty good.

One of the things on my ToDo list is to get at least three page spreads done a week. This way I have something to share here and on the IG’s. It may seem like an odd ToDo, but reaching out on social media is part of my self care and mental wellbeing. Sharing and seeing what other people are sharing has become an important part of my world.

Then there’s this!

Sometimes clearing a space and getting more crap out feels like more work than it’s worth. So I will put something on to entertaining while I’m trying to motivate myself to get down to it. Well, when I was working on this I was watching a podcast by a couple of guys just talking about random funny stuff…and this is the result.

Now it’s not the worst page spread I’ve ever done. It’s whimsical and colorful, and I’m using up random bits, but it’s pretty reflective of what I was listening to!

Now this is more like it!

I put some inspiring music into my head phones and just created. It’s still whimsical and fun, but the feelings it invokes when I look at it are very different.

I am happy to say that my box of randomness is getting pretty empty and I’m starting to get into some of my better quality ephemera again. I guess I could just throw stuff away instead of trying to find ways to use it, but I l clearly enjoy a challenge!

Getting better still!

After trying the same technique here, something still seemed to be missing, so I softened the edges by finger painting on a little gesso then stenciling over that. I finished off with just a couple of images, and called it good.

All three of these were done in a two hour session and you can really see the progression by just changing what I was feeding my brain with. In other words, there is a time and a place silliness, but if I want to create something inspiring I need to listen to something inspiring.

Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you!

Until next time,

Have a great week

Thank you for stopping by,

~Patty

This morning I pulled myself away from my growing To Do list to get in a little creative time.

I have to say that I’ve really been enjoying getting a little more organized, de-cluttered, and clean(er), but as I told my husband “We need to take some time off from getting things done and relax!”, so we took our little boat out this week for a spin around the lake.

I consider using up years worth of junk journal supplies, and finishing up journals, as part of my de-clutter project. (If you have any theories on why I can’t throw small bits of paper away, please leave a comment below!) So to me, I’m accomplishing something when I finish a page spread.

But why do I need an excuse to arrange small bits on pages? Is there a way to get rid of that small voice that keeps reminding me of all the things that need doing?

I think it’s because every time I get out supplies and start creating I hear a little voice telling me there is something else I should be doing…

It just happened!

“Honey, did you want to re-hang those mirrors right now?”

Shoot! It’s not a little voice, it’s my husband!

(seriously, this just happened while writing this blog post!)

Ya, so not getting rid of the small voice, he’s kinda cute!

Until next time,

Thank you for stopping in,

Take some time for you,

~Patty

The latest happenings at Casa de Radish is a kitchen remodel, and I am happy to say that it is almost finished, Monday should be the last day. Three weeks without a kitchen is quite a challenge, but it was actually fun not cooking (just not doing dishes in the bathroom sink!). So, we did a lot of barbecuing with ready made sides and relaxed in the backyard.

I knew not having a kitchen for a couple of weeks was going to be stressful, so I decided to cut myself some slack and take a little vacation from obligations to see what happened. It actually gave me enough space to see that I had over committed myself once again.

Busy work.

When the remodel started, I hid in my room with our elderly pooch and listened to audio books, art journaled, and posted, posted, posted, but after a while even that got a little tedious. I had joined the #100dayproject in an effort to get some of my art journals finished up, and it worked out pretty well in the beginning, but falling behind then playing “catch up” took too much time and energy, so I dropped out. Taking photos and posting on Instagram became more time consuming than it was worth.

Making adjustments.

I had also joined an online art journaling group hoping that it would inspire me to dig in and get some journals done, but it actually just felt like another obligation. To be honest, I think I have had a hard time adjusting to retirement and taking care of a family, so I keep looking for things to feel relevant and social media filled the bill for a while. I also thought that when my daughter and grandson moved out of state I would have a lot more free time to spend on ramping up my shoppe and social media presence. It definitely helped me refocus my grief, but now that I am on the other side of adjusting to their leaving, I’m finding lots of other things to keep me busy!

Going “small”.

Sometimes I wonder if I should let go of any kind of social media presence because popular opinions say that if your not “killing it” you’re wasting your time, It’s a lot of work to stay relevant in today’s social media world and I used to dream of being a “big deal” online…but now I’m over it. A couple of people that I was having a great time following have dropped out, and I’m actually pretty sad about it. It makes me wonder if they felt like even having a small presence wasn’t worth the time. I hate to see them go, but they have to make decisions that’s best for them.

Still sticking around.

I have to say that I have been enjoying taking a small break from posting on social media all the time and I’m going to post here when the mood strikes, (along with YouTube and Instagram (Facebook is long retired) because I don’t feel like retiring yet, I just want to take things a little more easy and give that little voice that nags me to post more often the “heave ho!”.

I have a lot of creative things I’m working on and I will definitely share here as much as possible, but not on any schedule, just as the mood hits me.

So, until next time,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week!

~Patty

(p.s. I want to do a downsizing giveaway, so look for that sometime soon!)

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked on a Happy Mail binder, but I recently made one for a friend, and was inspired to make another one for myself. This one is a lot different than any of my old ones. I decided to join the binders up with the art journals, and I’m definitely having more fun decorating them up…and making videos in the process!

I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s not like me to make a video and not talk about it on here, let alone four! At the bottom of each of these photos is a little blurb and a link to the corresponding video…

Video #1: “Happy Mail Binder Series: Episode 1“

In this video I do a flip through of some of my Happy Mail binders and talk about how I use them. Then I share what’s inside my “happy mail box” and create a pocket page for postcards.

(4×6 plastic pockets Amazon )

Video #2: “Happy Mail Junk Journal: Pocket Pages”

In this video I create more pocket pages for my Happy Mail Junk Journal (I changed my mind about what to call it as I went along, I like “Happy Mail Junk Journal” much better). These are some of the pages I took out of my old Happy Mail journals that I changed my mind about.

I’m taking my downsizing seriously!

Video #3: “Happy Mail Junk Journal: Decorating My Pages“

In this video I create some junk journal pages with collage clusters and happy mail ephemera, five super quick pages.

Video #4: Happy Mail Junk Journal: Decorating Pages Part 4

In this video I create 3 junk journal pages with happy mail ephemera.

In the midst of making this video series I received an awesome package of Happy Mail ephemera from one of my friends from here on my blog! Oh my gosh have I been having fun with all of it!

Thank you Nancy!

iHanna is hosting another postcard swap!…and here’s the link if you want to join. It just started so the due date to have your postcards ready is May 12th. If you decide to join, please let me know in the comments so we can make an extra one for each other and swap.

Thank you so much for visiting,

Have a great day,

~Patty